and reuters global editor at large, christa freeland. thank you both for being here.hat a lousy august this has been for the markets. i realize we're into september, but now they have the jobs report on top of it. how are the markets doing? >> well, august has been a rotten month for the markets. just as it has been for most americans in terms of the economy. i think there had been a hope that the recovery had started and i think august really, you know, solidified the fear that a lot of people had that actually the economy was very weak even if not going into a double dip recession, the recovery was extremely weak. and that made people worry about the value of their companies and, therefore, the value of holding shares. >> and mark, it does surprise me, because often times i think we get bad news and the market goes up. now the market seems to be acting like a normal human being. >> i think the markets are discounting weak economic growth but i don't think they're discounting a recession just yet. american companies' balance sheets are strong. so i think investors lo